Orange, Fennel & Black Pepper Chops

 Here we are with day three of the Marmalade challenge and another delicious recipe to share with you in honor of National Marmalade Week.  Orange, Fennel & Black Pepper Chops!   I was sent some delicious Marmalades to cook with earlier this month from the people at Mackays,  in honor of National Marmalade Week  (February 28th to March 6th) and asked would I like to try to create some new recipes using it.   I have risen to the challenge and this is the third recipe I created using their lovely marmalades.  For this one I used their Orange and Lemon with Ginger Marmalade, but I think any flavour would work well.

 

The Toddster loves pork chops and I confess that I do enjoy them occasionally as well.    Because we don't eat them very often I choose to buy a really good chop.   Out door reared, and free range.   I also am partial to the old fashioned ones with the bone in.   They say that the meat closest to the bone is always sweeter and I have to agree.  There is something about that bone that  helps to flavour the meat and to help keep it succulent. 

  

When I was a girl my mother always cooked our pork to death . . . there was a fear of trichinosis back then.  That fear no longer exists with modern farming, etc. and I don't cook our Pork to death these days.  Just until done through suffices for me.  Cooked through and still moist.

 

In this recipe the chops are rubbed with a cracked pepper, fenne and sea salt rub and allowed to sit for several minutes prior to browning . . . 

 

They are then cooked and glazed with a few dollops of that lovely Mackays Marmalade until they are succuently tender, and that glaze has coated them beautiful.  These are at once savoury, and sticky bitter/sweet.  They went down a real treat with some carrots and oven chips on the side!  Quantities given are for two, but these can easily be multiplied for more.  Enjoy!

  

*Orange, Fennel and Black Pepper Chops*

Serves 2

Printable Recipe 

Deliciously tender pork chops, with a savoury fennel and black pepper coating and a sweet orange glaze.  Simple and tasty! 

2 old fashioned bone in free range pork chops

1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1 12 tsp sea salt

2 heaped dessertspoons of good quality orange marmalade

1 tsp olive oil 

 

Trim the rind off of the chops, leaving a goodly amount of fat on the edge.  Slash the fat at 1/2 inch intervals, so as to keep the chops flat when cooking.   Mix together the cracked black pepper, fennel and sea salt.   Rub this into the chops all over.  Let stand for ten minutes. 

Heat a skillet large enough to hold both chops in a single layer.  Add the olive oil.  Brown the chops on both sides over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low.  Top each chop with a dessertspoon of marmalade.  Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.  Uncover and flip the chops over.  Cook for a further ten minutes, turning the chops frequently, until they are well cooked through and nicely glazed.   

Serve hot with some of the pan juices spooned over top.

National Marmalade Week runs from 28th Feb - 6th March 2016. National Marmalade Week is organised by the World Marmalade Awards at Dalemain, Penrith. The Awards will take place from 19th-21st March with the main sponsors being Mackays, Fortnum & Mason and Paddington Bear.

Mackays are a family run business that has stayed true to its values of producing small authentic batches for a quality homemade taste. Their soft fruits are sourced from the best local Scottish fruit farms and our bitter marmalade oranges come from the famous Seville region in Spain.

 To find out more do check out their website.
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